Worthy of Death: A Magnificent Epic of Seven Tragically Entangled Lives

By Rich Ritter

n unspeakable evil committed at the conclusion of Gathering of the Clans ignites a firestorm of unforeseen consequences. Joniah has forgiven Joshua Hotah for his “unexpected act of kindness,” but the rifle shot attracts unwanted attention. After orchestrating the murder of an innocent family, a creeping edge of remorse invites Csongor Toth to consider the possibility of a conscience. Deeply in love with Nadia, Roshan Kuznetsov believes his abject poverty will lead to rejection. Manfred Herrmann has confessed his darkest secret to Alexandra Smythe, but does not yet appreciate the peril of her unspoken secret. Tseng Longwei has finally achieved “glorious poverty and splendid deprivation,” but his epiphany fails to release him from the shame of cowardice. Nearly tempted into a life of prostitution, the youthful Priscilla Kimball must now survive a menacing confrontation with an accused murderer. And what of Gordania Sinclair, the remarkable heroine of this trilogy: will she escape the labyrinth created by her alter ego? Read on to experience the glorious finale of Nor Things to Come.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publication Consultants
• Release date: Sep 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781594339356

Rich Ritter

R. Phillip Ritter is the son of a father who worked as a cost analyst in the aerospace industry and a mother who taught first grade for nearly three decades. Born in Des Moines, Iowa in January 1952, his family moved to Southern California before he began the first grade. He attended second grade through high school in Anaheim, and then California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. He graduated with a bachelor of architecture degree in 1975. He completed his thesis year in Denmark, and while there met Kristine (born in Alaska, she was completing her second year of architecture through the University of Idaho) in the balcony of the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen during a performance of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. He moved to Alaska and married Kris a few years later and has lived there ever since. The author and his wife have two sons, Kristian and Ryan.

Book preview

ERA

A SYNOPSIS OF BOOK 2: GATHERING OF THE CLANS

by Muireall Anne Ravenscroft, award-winning author of A Concise History of the West and other acclaimed works of nonfiction.

When Rich Ritter asked me to write a synopsis of the first book of Nor Things to Come: A Trilogy of the American West , I initially thought the task unnecessary. After all, I reasoned, why would any serious reader commence the second book of a trilogy without having read the first? But as I considered what I should write to briefly outline the magnificent story presented in The Perilous Journey Begins , it came to me one evening during a pleasant autumn thunderstorm that readers of the first book would almost certainly appreciate a refreshing of the memory before diving into the second. Now that Mr. Ritter has asked me to write a synopsis of Book 2: Gathering of the Clans , my opinion on this matter has not changed. However, if you are indeed reading this final book of the trilogy without any knowledge of the first or second, then I advise you to go no further. I believe with all my heart and mind that you have an intellectual obligation to find The Perilous Journey Begins and Gathering of the Clans and read them before commencing this conclusion of the story. But it is not my right to tell you what to do. If you insist on proceeding, then the following synopsis—which only covers the second book—will offer only incomplete and superfici al preparation.

Silver City, Idaho Territory, September 1871. Priscilla Kimball skips to the centerline juncture of Washington Street and Avalanche Avenue. A freight wagon rumbles up behind her. One of the local Cousin Jennies (the wife of a Cornish miner named Tressa) admonishes Priscilla to get out of the road before another wagon runs her over. Priscilla strolls over to the woman and tells her that she is looking for a job because the wagon family she is living with can no longer afford to keep her. Tressa tells Priscilla that she can stay with her family, but Priscilla declines. Later in the day, Priscilla finds a sign on the wall of the two-story saloon on the corner of Washington and Avalanche advertising work for one (or maybe two) women. Priscilla enters the saloon and meets Nadia—a slender woman wearing a colorful dress—standing at the bar. Nadia tells Priscilla that she is not the type of woman the saloon is looking for, but Priscilla explains that she is desperate to find a job. The owner of the saloon, a stocky woman dressed in black named Margaret, overhears the conversation and walks up to the bar. She tells Priscilla, There’d be some in this town who’d pay good money for a young one like you, but there’s others who’d try to run me out of Silver City for offering the opportunity. Nadia intervenes and asks Margaret to give Priscilla a cleaning job because no one else wants to do it. Margaret finally agrees, but says if Priscilla breaks anything it will come out of Nadia’s wages.

Silver City, Idaho Territory, September 1871. Manfred Herrmann meets Father Nero Aguilar at the War Eagle Hotel for breakfast. As they walk into the lobby, Father Nero suggests they might find a way to work together, because: There is more than enough sin to go around. Another man of the cloth, even one who is not a Catholic, may be a useful addition to this town. The two are seated at a table by a window with views to Jordan Avenue, and are served hot coffee, scrambled eggs, and bacon by a Chinese waiter dressed in a white apron splattered with tomato soup. They discuss Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses, the Spanish Inquisition, the Thirty-Years War, and Martin Luther’s marriage to a nun. Father Nero asks Manfred if he has any plans to take advantage of this …trivial distinction between Catholic and Lutheran clergy. The recollection of Alexandra Smythe running along the train platform in Chicago flashes into his mind. Manfred says he has thought of marriage, but has no one in mind. Father Nero segues to the point of the meeting, and reports that the Bishop has denied the use of Our Lady of Tears Catholic Church to hold Lutheran services. He suggests the idea of holding services in the back room at the saloon on the corner of Washington and Avalanche. After finishing breakfast, Manfred meets with the owner of the saloon, an incorrigibly surly woman named Margaret. She reluctantly agrees to allow use of the backroom for church services, but only if there are no sermons about the sins of swearing or gambling or drinking or whoring. Manfred agrees, and shakes Margaret’s hand to seal the contract.

Silver City, Idaho Territory, October 1871. Conrad Airingsail—wide-brimmed hat scrunched down on top of ears and spectacles to block the afternoon sun…unraveled hem of a gray bandana stretched beneath a small dirt-smudged nose…cowboy spurs with the rowels filed down strapped to boots splattered with dried mud—stops his buckboard in front of The Sommercamp Emporium & General Store. When he hops to the ground, the spurs jingle and the 12-gauge-sawed-off-pistol-grip-double-barreled shotgun secured to his back in a quick-release harness he had fabricated himself swings into view. Another weapon, a small-caliber five-cylinder revolver carried in a shoulder holster, is concealed beneath his sweat-stained vest. He finds Mr. William F. Sommercamp at the back of the store and hands him a note with a list of items including flour, bacon, coffee, and other needs. Conrad then hands a sack of fresh vegetables to Mr. Sommercamp for his children. In a small cabin south of town, Manfred Herrmann is busy writing notices advertising his new church. When he leaves the cabin to hand out the notices, a cat rubs his leg. Manfred tells the cat to never come back and tromps into town. He approaches over 100 residents, but not a single person takes one of his hand-written notices. Dejected, he runs into William Sommercamp and an odd cowboy in front of the general store. Without speaking, the cowboy grabs one of the notices and quickly rides away in the buckboard. When Manfred asks why the man didn’t say anything, William Sommercamp explains that Conrad Airingsail is a mute who keeps to himself, never drinks or plays cards, and always smells like he’s slept in a pile of fresh manure. When Manfred returns to his cabin, the cat is waiting for him—with a dead shrew.

Silver City, Idaho Territory, October 1871. Roshan Kuznetsov loads another heavy scoop of dirt into a gold rocker near the gravelly banks of Jordan Creek. He complains to his business partner, Tseng Longwei, that they have not found a speck of gold with the gold rocker and they should, …use this piece of shit to build of the fire tonight, if you agree with my think, and you should say to it. Longwei replies, I say we should work for three more days with the gold pan and the gold rocker. If we still do not find any gold, we should track down this man who sold the gold rocker and ask him to tell the instructions of its use to both of us at the same time. After a spirited discussion of the man’s appearance and how to find him, they agree to wait three days. Three days later, Roshan Kuznetsov warms his blistered hands near the flaming relic of the piece-of-shit gold rocker and nudges a cast iron pot of simmering beans into the hot coals now glowing below the collapsing mining implement. As they continue to argue about whether or not they were using the gold rocker correctly, a grizzled old man rides up on a burro and asks if he can join them for dinner. Roshan says they have many beans and he is welcome. The old man also asks if they have any whisky. Longwei says they have no whisky but plentiful water from Jordan Creek. The man introduces himself as Gustus De Angeles, and asks Roshan and Longwei if they’d be interested in helping him work his claim on War Eagle Mountain, near Mahogany Gulch. When they hesitate, Gustus offers to pay them each five dollars a day.

Silver City, Idaho Territory, October 1871. Csongor Toth admires the sign that will announce his new business with understated grandeur. He asks the young man holding the heavy sign to lift it higher so he can properly examine it.

CSONGOR TOTH, ESQUIRE

MINING CLAIMS LAW

(PAYMENT IN GOLD PREFERRED)

Csongor tells the boy to have the sign installed by the end of the day. But as the boy leaves, Csongor demands to examine the other side.

CSONGOR TOTH, ESQUIRE

MINING CLAIMS LAW

(PAYMENT IN GOLD PREFERRED)

Upon reading the text, Csongor slumps into his chair. The boy asks if he likes the sign. Csongor replies, Tell your master I am overjoyed with the quality of the sign. Not only will it announce my new law firm with appropriate verve, but it will also allow me to judge the literacy and powers of observation of potential clients without having to ask directly. Later in the day, Csongor meets with three of the more celebrated miscreants of Silver City: Seth, who claims no surname; Bill Jackson, who goes by Jackson; and Miguel Cervantes, who does not know how to read or write. Csongor asks each man if he has ever killed. After affirming they have, Seth demands that Csongor reveal how many people he has killed. Csongor answers, I suppose I could offer an exact count if I cared to think about it, but unfortunately the delicious exhilaration of killing has blended the individual deaths into a composite rapture that has blurred specific details. Csongor presents a business proposition involving blackmail, larceny, extortion, bribery, and similar endeavors. He offers each man ten dollars a day, a bottle of Old Pulteney whisky, and a fifty-dollar advance to buy clothes, shave, and take a bath. The three men accept and agree to report back Friday morning to commence the first endeavor of this fledgling business enterprise.

Silver City, Idaho Territory, November 1, 1871. Tseng Longwei considers four options ranging from staying in the wagon and enduring the rump-thumping, teeth-cracking, back-slamming abuse of this so-called road to Silver City to getting off the wagon, sitting on a comfortable rock or stump, and waiting for Roshan to drive the wagon to town and return with supplies. He decides instead on a fifth option: stay in the wagon and appreciate the mystical gift of life and the serenity of a land not torn asunder by the ravages of the brutal civil war in China. When the wagon begins the final steep grade toward Jordan Creek, Roshan snaps the reins and startles the mules into a wild descent. A large boulder shatters the wagon tongue, separating the mules and throwing Roshan and Longwei into the back of the wagon. The mules drift behind the wagon before it plunges chaotically into a shallow ravine. The next day, after paying the blacksmith a week’s wages for repairs, they drive to a general store to buy supplies. Roshan enters the store, but Longwei goes for a walk because the store does not allow Indians or Chinamen. He meets a man dressed in a black suit who is handing out ragged shreds of paper advertising church services in the back room of a saloon. Longwei accepts one of the notices, returns to the general store, and finds that Roshan has loaded the wagon with the supplies. As they head back to Mahogany Gulch, Longwei suggests that Roshan allow the mules to select the speed and route because, …this is the only way to allow the possibility of arriving at Mahogany Gulch alive.

A few miles north of Silver City, November 6, 1871. Joshua Hotah and his beloved appaloosa both sniff the crispness of an autumn breeze and squint into the hazy rim of sun drifting low along the mountainous horizon to the southwest. A stagecoach rumbles by; Joshua tells the appaloosa, You are lucky to not have to pull a stagecoach for a job. Joshua glimpses a slender column of bluish smoke to the west and rides towards it. They find a Nez Perce woman tending a fire next to a teepee. Because Joshua only speaks enough Nez Perce to buy a horse, the woman initially brandishes a large knife. Joshua calms the woman, and she allows him to examine her son, who has a swollen belly and is very sick. After Joshua uses sign language for white man, chief, and medicine, (which together means doctor) and die and sleep (which together means dead), the woman allows him to take the boy to Silver City. Joshua finds Doctor Guinevere Dupree in the same building as the undertaker. Joshua is suspicious because he thought all doctors were men, but Guinevere explains that she graduated from New York Women’s Medical College in 1868. After examining the boy, she determines that he has appendicitis and requires an immediate operation. Joshua asks if she has done this before, and she says, …I had the good fortune to observe Dr. William Parker of New York perform an appendectomy on three different occasions. Joshua replies, I have watched men skin and gut a buffalo many times more than three, but this does not mean I know how to do the same. Joshua agrees to assist, and as Guinevere begins the procedure, she asks, Is it really true you do not know how to skin and gut a buffalo?

Saloon on the corner of Washington and Avalanche, November 6, 1871. Priscilla Kimball suppresses the urge to retch when she involuntarily gulps a big whiff of stale vomit. She fishes around in a bucket of soapy water, snags the torn rag sticking to the bottom, wrings it out, and falls to her hands and knees to clean up the mess left by one of the establishment’s more important clients. A strapping miner named Jacque—sufficiently drunk to blur his vision—shuffles quietly into the dim room. He blinks twice before locating Priscilla’s enticingly-naked legs and youthful derrière. He drops to his knees and yanks her skirt up. After twisting her arm behind her back, he speaks to her in slurred tones: No need to get upset, little missy. This’ll only take a minute…or maybe two. Wearing the exotic lingerie of her trade, Nadia bursts into the room and slaps the side of Jacque’s head with a hickory axe handle. When Jacque releases Priscilla, Nadia tells him he’s in the wrong room again and Priscilla is not a whore. Priscilla retires to Nadia’s pleasant little room where she washes her face and rests. Nadia tells Priscilla, I was supposed to be a school teacher, but something terrible happened before I started. She also says, …my dream is to make enough money to move to California and buy a nice home with a view of the ocean. I’d like to have my own garden too. It’s either that or marry a fine gentleman of means, which I don’t really believe is likely given my current occupation. I hope to raise a family someday too. Priscilla asks if she thinks this will happen anytime soon. Nadia says that she hopes so, because she’s not sure how much longer she will last.

A masked ball before winter, November 7, 1871. Sitting in a bentwood rocking chair next to a barrel of pickles in The Sommercamp Emporium & General Store, Manfred Herrmann pulls an enormous pickle out of the barrel and gnaws off a big chunk. William Sommercamp approaches and says, I thought you hated pickles. Manfred replies, I can hardly stand to even look at one. I’m just punishing myself for sulking. William Sommercamp suggests that Manfred attend the masked ball at the Masonic Hall to cheer himself up. After arguing about the logic of this idea, William Sommercamp gives Manfred a plain black mask—perfect for a preacher—and sends him on his way. Manfred sticks a second pickle in his jacket pocket (just in case). After arriving at the ball, Manfred slouches on a three-legged stool and sulks. Two men begin pushing each other at the main entry. Before it escalates into a brawl, a young woman wearing a dress the color of a clear morning sky and a mask the color of fresh clouds steps through the doorway, touches each man on the shoulder, says a few words (which Manfred cannot hear), and the men immediately separate and remove their hats. Csongor Toth later introduces the young woman to Manfred and asks him to dance with her. To his astonishment, she is Alexandra Smythe, who he met on the train from Chicago. After the first dance, Alexandra asks, What is it you have in your coat pocket? Manfred explains that it is a pickle. Alexandra suggests he remove it before the next dance. Manfred says, Yes, Miss Smythe. I’ll get rid of it. Right away. Alexandra replies, Please call me Alex. Manfred fingers the pickle as he searches the room for an appropriate place to discard it before answering, Yes, Miss Smythe.

Commotion at the masked ball, November 7, 1871. Waiting patiently on the second floor of the Masonic Hall, Tseng Longwei listens to Roshan negotiate with the burly doorkeeper who has informed them that Chinamen are not allowed. After an angry exchange, Roshan shoves the doorkeeper; the doorkeeper pushes back. As Roshan prepares to push even harder, a young woman wearing a dress the color of a clear morning sky and a mask the color of fresh clouds steps briskly through the doorway and asks if she has arrived safely at the masked ball. The two men separate and remove their hats. Tseng Longwei bows to the doorkeeper and thanks Roshan for his effort, then goes for a walk. He discovers a bonfire on the banks of Jordan Creek with three old men, two old women, four young men, six young women, and nine children of various ages and genders—all Chinese—gathered around the flames. The old man informs Longwei that he must tell a story if he wishes to stay. After studying the constellations, Longwei tells of a mythical land where a blue dragon rules the eastern kingdom, a black tortoise rules the wintry northern kingdom, a white tiger rules the autumn lands of the western kingdom, a fiery red phoenix rules the southern kingdom, and a powerful emperor rules the lands of the middle kingdom and watches over all the lands. A dispute arises between the blue dragon and the emperor and war breaks out. The blue dragon asks his most trusted colonel to guard his most valued possession: a young princess of the most astonishing beauty. The emperor’s armies defeat the blue dragon and the colonel is overcome by fear and flees. As he leaves the castle, he discovers the blue dragon in chains and the princess stripped naked and bound in heavy wood stocks. The princess implores the colonel to save her, but he turns away in shame. The old man says, Not exactly a story for young children, but very good nonetheless. You may stay, Tseng Longwei.

A bath at the War Eagle Hotel, November 7, 1871. Gordania Sinclair plunges to the bottom of the copper bathtub when heavy footsteps tromp beyond the locked door separating the second-floor bathing room from the hallway. She gradually emerges and arranges the floating mounds of soap foam to conceal her torso. When the water has cooled and no longer provides adequate pleasure, she steps out of the tub and dries herself with a white cotton towel. She shifts her gaze to a full-length mirror and gently runs an index finger along the hideous scar from her neck down to its jagged termination a few inches below the right clavicle, then begins to dress. After sliding a derringer (the one Csongor gave her in Chicago) into a cotton holster she had sewn into her bloomers just above the right knee, she reaches for her dress. She asks the hotel clerk for directions to the masked ball. When she arrives at the Masonic Hall, a commotion between two large bearded men prompts her to touch each one on the shoulder and ask if she has arrived safely at the masked ball. To her surprise, the men instantly separate and remove their hats. She finds Csongor Toth and asks him if he was successful in luring Mr. Herrmann to the masked ball. Manfred unexpectedly approaches, and Csongor introduces him to Miss Alexandra Smythe of Liverpool, England, and asks him to dance with her. After dancing until after midnight, Manfred and Alexandra relax and drink glasses of sour lemonade. Manfred pulls his chair around and sits directly in front of Alexandra, his knees separated from hers by an electrified gap of only two inches. In an apparent display of modesty, Alexandra slides her hand over her right knee and rests it on top of the derringer.

An English lesson…of sorts, November 8, 1871. Two hours after the grandfather clock chimes twelve, Roshan gives the burly doorkeeper a final stern look before tripping and bouncing down the stairs in a rhythmic series of comical harrumphs. Finding Roshan’s hat at the top, the doorkeeper wads it into a little ball and throws it with every ounce of strength he can muster, hitting the back of Roshan’s head. The burly doorkeeper yells, You forgot your hat. Roshan stumbles through the front door of the Masonic Hall and begins looking for the wagon and Tseng Longwei. After wandering around and failing to find the wagon, he ends up at the saloon on the corner of Washington and Avalanche. Roshan meets Margaret, and asks if she can tell him …of the owner to see my question of the look for the something of the strangest you can’t believe it when your lips hear of it. She answers, You’re looking at the owner. Now what is this strange request? I can hardly wait to hear all about it. Roshan says he is looking for a whore who can speak both English and Russian. Margaret sends for Nadia, who is less than pleased and chastises Roshan in fluent Russian. Upon hearing the beauty of his mother tongue, Roshan’s heart swells with affection for Nadia. They retire to the bar. Roshan drinks hot coffee and Nadia explains that she was once a teacher. Upon hearing this, Roshan asks if she will give him English lessons. Margaret arrives and tells Nadia it is time to get upstairs. Nadia informs her that she plans to give Roshan English lessons. Margaret sneers, Go ahead, Nadia. You show him how to stick his subject into your predicate. The rate’s still the same and my cut’s still the same.

A business meeting after the masked ball, November 8, 1871. The hour of two in the morning has arrived, and Csongor Toth waits with Seth, Jackson, and Miguel. At exactly 2:02, the door opens and Elijah Brown enters the room. Csongor says he is two minutes late. Elijah rests a hand on his Smith & Wesson revolver and explains dryly, I had a little business to clean up in Dodge City, otherwise I would have arrived on time. Csongor says he was not expecting an African shootist. Elijah